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Slam vs Clout - What's the difference?

slam | clout | Related terms |

In obsolete terms the difference between slam and clout

is that slam is a type of card game, also called ruff and honours while clout is a piece; a fragment.

As verbs the difference between slam and clout

is that slam is to shut with sudden force so as to produce a shock and noise while clout is to hit, especially with the fist.

As nouns the difference between slam and clout

is that slam is a sudden impact or blow while clout is influence or effectiveness, especially political.

slam

English

Etymology 1

Apparently from a Scandinavian source; compare Norwegian slamre, Swedish slemma.

Verb

(slamm)
  • (ergative) To shut with sudden force so as to produce a shock and noise.
  • Don't slam the door!
  • (ergative) To put in or on a particular place with force and loud noise. (Often followed by a preposition such as down'', ''against'' or into.)
  • Don't slam that trunk down on the pavement!
  • To strike forcefully with some implement.
  • * {{quote-news
  • , year=2011 , date=January 18 , author= , title=Wolverhampton 5 - 0 Doncaster , work=BBC citation , page= , passage=But Wolves went in front when Steven Fletcher headed in Stephen Hunt's cross and it was 2-0 when Geoffrey Mujangi Bia slammed in his first for the club. }}
  • (colloquial) To speak badly of; to criticize forcefully.
  • Don't ever slam me in front of the boss like that again!
    Union leaders slammed the new proposals.
    Critics slammed the new film, calling it violent and meaningless.
  • (basketball) To dunk forcefully, to slam dunk.
  • (bridge) To make a slam bid.
  • (card games) To defeat (opponents at cards) by winning all the tricks of a deal or a hand.
  • (Hoyle)
  • to change providers (e.g. of domain registration or telephone carrier) for a customer without clear (if any) consent.
  • to drink off, to drink quickly
  • to compete in a poetry slam
  • Synonyms
    * (drink quickly) See also
    Derived terms
    * slam the door on * slam on the brakes

    Noun

  • (countable) A sudden impact or blow.
  • (countable) The shock and noise produced by violently closing a door or other object.
  • * (Charles Dickens)
  • The slam and the scowl were lost upon Sam.
  • (countable, basketball) A slam dunk.
  • (countable, colloquial, US) An insult.
  • *, chapter=5
  • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients , passage=“Well,” I says, “I cal'late a body could get used to Tophet if he stayed there long enough.” ¶ She flared up; the least mite of a slam at Doctor Wool was enough to set her going.}}
  • (uncountable) The yellow iron silicate produced in alum works as a waste product.
  • A poetry slam.
  • (UK, dialect) The refuse of alum works.
  • Etymology 2

    Origin unknown.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (obsolete) A type of card game, also called ruff and honours.
  • (cards) Losing or winning all the tricks in a game.
  • (countable, bridge) A bid of six (small slam'') or seven (''grand slam ) in a suit or no trump.
  • Derived terms
    * grand slam

    Verb

    (slamm)
  • (card games) To defeat by winning all the tricks of a deal or a hand.
  • Anagrams

    * English ergative verbs ----

    clout

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Influence or effectiveness, especially political.
  • * {{quote-news
  • , year=2011 , date=December 15 , author=Felicity Cloake , title=How to cook the perfect nut roast , work=Guardian citation , page= , passage=The chopped mushrooms add depth to both the Waitrose and the Go-Go Vegan recipe, but what gives the latter some real clout on the flavour front is a teaspoon of Marmite. Vegetarian tweeter Jessica Edmonds tells me her boyfriend likes a similar recipe because "it tastes of Twiglets!". I'm with him – frankly, what's Christmas without a Twiglet? – but Annie Bell's goat's cheese has given me an idea for something even more festive. Stilton works brilliantly with parsnips, providing a savoury richness which feels a little more special than common or garden yeast extract. Blue cheese calls to mind the chestnuts used by Mary Berry of course, and now I'm on a roll, I pop in some sage and onion too, in a nod to the classic festive stuffing. }}
  • (regional, informal) A blow with the hand.
  • * 1910 , , Frau Brenchenmacher Attends A Wedding
  • 'Such a clout on the ear as you gave me… But I soon taught you.'
  • (informal) A home run.
  • * 2011 , , "Triple double", in The Boston Globe , August 17, 2011, p. C1.
  • '... allowed Boston to score all of its runs on homers, including a pair of clouts by Jacoby Ellsbury ...'
  • (archery) The center of the butt at which archers shoot; probably once a piece of white cloth or a nail head.
  • * Shakespeare
  • A' must shoot nearer or he'll ne'er hit the clout .
  • (regional, dated) A swaddling cloth.
  • (archaic) A cloth; a piece of cloth or leather; a patch; a rag.
  • * Spenser
  • His garments, nought but many ragged clouts , / With thorns together pinned and patched was.
  • * Shakespeare
  • a clout upon that head where late the diadem stood
  • *
  • (archaic) An iron plate on an axletree or other wood to keep it from wearing; a washer.
  • * 1866 , , A History of Agriculture and Prices in England , Volume 1, p. 546.
  • Clouts were thin and flat pieces of iron, used it appears to strengthen the box of the wheel; perhaps also for nailing on such other parts of the cart as were particularly exposed to wear.
  • (obsolete) A piece; a fragment.
  • (Chaucer)

    Derived terms

    * breech-clout * clout list * clout-nail * ne'er cast a clout til May be out

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To hit, especially with the fist.
  • To cover with cloth, leather, or other material; to bandage; patch, or mend, with a clout.
  • * Latimer
  • Paul, yea, and Peter, too, had more skill in clouting an old tent than to teach lawyers.
  • To stud with nails, as a timber, or a boot sole.
  • To guard with an iron plate, as an axletree.
  • To join or patch clumsily.
  • * P. Fletcher
  • if fond Bavius vent his clouted song

    References